Stuart Block (born November 26, 1977) is a Canadian singer best known as the former lead vocalist for

progressive death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

band Into Eternity and American heavy metal band

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

. Before joining Into Eternity in 2005, Block began his musical career singing for various bands in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. After two albums with Into Eternity, Block joined Iced Earth in 2011 and recorded three albums during his ten-year tenure with the band: '' Dystopia'' (2011), ''

Plagues of Babylon ''Plagues of Babylon'' is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Iced Earth. Released in January 2014, the album is the group's first studio release with bassist Luke Appleton and the only with drummer Raphael Saini, who was a gue ...

'' (2014) and ''

Incorruptible ''Incorruptible'' is an American comic book series written by Mark Waid and published by Boom! Studios. The series follows former supervillain Max Damage in his quest to become a superhero. The book is a spin-off of another Waid comic, ''Irredeema ...

'' (2017). He was the second-longest-serving vocalist of Iced Earth, behind

Matt Barlow Matthew Barlow (born March 10, 1971) is an American heavy metal singer. He is the lead singer for Ashes of Ares and former lead singer of Iced Earth and Pyramaze. He is Jon Schaffer's brother-in-law. History Barlow joined Iced Earth after the ...

Career

Early career and Into Eternity

Block began his musical career in 1998, singing for various metal and rock acts around Vancouver. Before joining Into Eternity, Block was the singer for the band Omega Crom, among others. In 2005, he joined Eternity, and the following year, the band released their first album with him, '' The Scattering of Ashes''. Block received high praise for his performance, with Eduardo Rivadavia of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

calling him "one of the finest metal voices of his generation". Block's second album with into Eternity, ''

The Incurable Tragedy ''The Incurable Tragedy'' is the fifth full-length studio album by Canadian progressive death metal band Into Eternity. The album was released on August 25, 2008, in Europe through Century Media Records. This is the first album which does not f ...

'', was released in 2008. Respectively, in 2011 and 2012, the band released the singles "Sandstorm" and "Fukushima". Also, in late 2012, Block began demoing new material with Eternity and their new touring vocalist Amanda Kiernan.

Iced Earth

In March 2011, it was announced that Block had been chosen as the new lead singer for

. Before releasing Block's first album with the group, Iced Earth released a re-recording of their 1995 song "

Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, gui ...

" as a free download on their website. '' Dystopia'', Block's first album with Iced Earth, was released on October 18, 2011. The album garnered positive reviews, with some calling it one of Iced Earth's best albums. Block also received praise for his performance. The band released its next Live CD/DVD on April 15, 2013, ''

Live in Ancient Kourion ''Live in Ancient Kourion'' is a live album by American heavy metal band Iced Earth. The album was recorded August 19, 2012 at the 2300 year-old Kourion Theater in Kourion, Cyprus during the band's Dystopia World Tour. Track listing Person ...

''. The album was recorded on August 19, 2012, at the 6,000-year-old Kourion Theater in Cyprus during the band's Dystopia World Tour. Iced Earth began writing new material for their eleventh studio album in early 2013. The title was later confirmed as ''

'', and the album was released in January 2014. Block's second album with the band received mostly positive reviews overall from music critics. In January 2014, the album reached position No. 5 on the German

Media Control Charts Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass ...

. This is Iced Earth's highest chart position in their entire career. The band also reached No. 34 on the

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

charts in Belgium. Meanwhile, in the US, the album sold approximately 6,300 copies in its first week to debut at No. 49 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Following a period of inactivity, Iced Earth started writing for their twelfth studio album tentatively titled ''The Judas Goat'', with an expected release date and subsequent touring cycle in early 2016. On February 15, 2021, a month after Schaffer's arrest following the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

, Block announced that he had left Iced Earth.

Annihilator

Stu Block recorded the song "Downright Dominate" with Annihilator in late 2021 for their rerecording of the album ''Metal'', titled ''Metal II''. In January 2022, Block would handle lead vocals on the band's future live shows. Guitarist, Jeff Waters, announced that he would step down as lead vocalist and focusing solely on lead guitar.

Singing style

Block is a self-described "hybrid vocalist", meaning that he uses vocal styles from many different genres of metal. He has listed Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford,

Daniel Heiman Lost Horizon is a power metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band has esoteric stage personas similar to sword and sorcery fantasy, with the members wearing studded leather, cloaks and face paint. In their albums' liner notes, their stage na ...

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

, Tim Owens,

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

Jari Mäenpää Jari Mäenpää (born 23 December 1977) is a Finnish heavy metal multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is the founder of Wintersun for which he records all instruments except the drums. Before forming Wintersun, Mäenpää was best known for ...

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher George Fisher (born July 8, 1970), better known by his stage name Corpsegrinder, is an American death metal vocalist who is the lead singer of Cannibal Corpse, Paths of Possession and the supergroup Serpentine Dominion. He recorded two al ...

Russell Allen Russell Allen (born July 19, 1971) is an American singer best known as the vocalist of the progressive metal band Symphony X. He has also worked with the supergroups Star One, Allen-Lande, Level 10, and as one of fourteen vocalists in the pr ...

and

Jørn Lande Jørn Marumsrud Lande (born May 31, 1968) is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer and songwriter. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Ma ...

as his influences as a singer.

Personal life

Block's mother was battling cancer when he joined Iced Earth. The song "End of Innocence" from Iced Earth's '' Dystopia'' was written for her by Block. His mother died on August 23, 2013.Stu Block's Facebook Page
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Discography

Into Eternity

* 2006: '' The Scattering of Ashes'' * 2008: ''

'' * 2011: "Sandstorm" (single) * 2012: "Fukushima" (single)

Iced Earth

* 2011: " Dante's Inferno 2011" (single) * 2011: '' 5 Songs'' (EP) * 2011: '' Dystopia'' * 2013: ''

'' * 2013: ''The Plagues'' (EP) * 2014: ''

'' * 2017: ''

Annihilator

* 2022: ''Metal II''

The Midgard Project

* 2022: ''The Great Divide''

References

External links

Stu Block's bio at Iced Earth's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Stu Living people Canadian heavy metal singers Canadian male singers Iced Earth members 1977 births